International Journal of Plant & Soil Science

Aims: In this study, 634 accessions of proso millet were evaluated to assess phenotypic diversity using morpho-agronomic traits, aiming to identify specific donors for desired traits.

Study Design:  Augmented design.

Place and Duration of Study: During the Kharif season of 2021, a total of 634 proso millet germplasm accessions were characterized, alongside three control varieties, as part of the Institute Project (IIMR/CI/2021-2026/150) at ICAR-IIMR in Hyderabad.

Methodology: The experimental design employed was an augmented block design, and four check varieties, namely GPUP 8, TNAU 145, TNAU 164, and TNAU 202, were included.

Results: The results revealed significant variation across all the traits studied. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) demonstrated that the first three principal components accounted for 60% of the total variation. PC1 accounted for 27.3% of the variation, followed by PC2 (22.6%) and PC3 (10%). PC1 was primarily influenced by Leaf blade length (cm), Peduncle length (cm), Panicle length (cm), Plant height (cm), and grain yield (g plant^-1). Furthermore, the study identified 21 accessions with superior performance in multiple traits (3-6 traits).

Conclusion: These accessions can serve as valuable genetic resources for improving yield and quality traits. The selected multi-trait donors can be directly released for cultivation, serving as a short-term breeding goal. This approach has the potential to enable farmers to achieve high remuneration by harvesting increased yields.